Report: Kaepernick looking for $18 million per year

Posted by Mike Florio on March 3, 2014, 9:07 AM EST

AP

As it turns out, coach Jim Harbaugh is a bargain in comparison to quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

At a time when it’s believed that Harbaugh hopes to increase his annual salary from $5 million to $6.5 million in 2014, Kaepernick hopes to end in a much higher spot. While starting in a much lower one.

Due to earn $973,000 this year, Kaepernick reportedly is looking for $18 million per year as part of a long-term deal, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.

That would put Kaepernick in the same ballpark as Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, and slightly ahead of Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who averages $17.6 million per year.

It’s also considerably more than Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s current $14.1 million per year deal, which nevertheless kicked off in 2013 with a $30 million signing bonus.

The question for the 49ers is whether to take the Joe Flacco approach or the Matt Ryan approach. In 2012, the Ravens opted to let Flacco finish his rookie contract, and he did so with a Super Bowl MVP trophy. It backed the Ravens into a corner, forcing them to choose between making him the highest-paid quarterback in the league or starting down a year-to-year path under the exclusive franchise tag that would have given him more than $80 million in three years.

In 2013, the Falcons opted to pay Matt Ryan before he completed the final year of his rookie deal and backed the team into the same corner, forcing Atlanta to break the bank even bigger in early 2014. Despite the team’s unexpectedly bad season, the Falcons still would have been faced with a dilemma between using the non-exclusive franchise tag (and risking a pilfering by another team happy to give up two first-round picks) and applying the exclusive version of the tag.

Kaepernick arguably hasn’t played enough games (he has only 23 regular-season starts) to justify the kind of money he wants. Also, given his mobile playing style, the 49ers will assume a greater injury risk upon giving Kaepernick long-term security.

With new team president Paraag Marathe, an analytics aficionado, recently explaining at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference that advanced statistics “absolutely play a big role” in contract negotiations, the sample size is still too small to pay Kaepernick at or near the top of the market.

“Both sides in a contract negotiation, both sides are using analytics and data to help support — it’s confirmation bias to the max, everybody’s trying to find evidence that supports whatever theory or contract demand they want to make,” Marathe said, via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. “They can cut it and slice it in a lot of ways that help you.”

Two stats can slice apart the legend of Colin Kaepernick. As explained in the latest edition of ESPN The Magazine, Kaepernick had a league-worst 54.6 completion percentage while under pressure. He also was sacked 20.2 percent of the time when facing pressure, the fourth highest average among all NFL starters.

Then there’s the question of whether Kaepernick’s success comes more from his innate abilities or from the highly talented team that surrounds him. And whether any other coach can get out of Kaepernick the production that Harbaugh has — especially once the postseason rolls around and Kaepernick seems to find a higher level of play.

With the Harbaugh situation potentially imploding after 2014, it’s probably a good idea to wait to pay Kaepernick the kind of money he’s looking for. If he has another strong season, the number won’t get much higher in 2015. If Kaepernick struggles, it could become a lot cheaper to keep him.

The only qb’s of the young breed of kids passing now worth that much is luck and maybe Newton and Wilson, tannehill and rg3 will follow up I think worth around 12 to 14 mil a year.

I would not pay kap over 10 mil a year, when you have to limit your offense because your qb lacks the ability to run a pass offense that’s not worth it, they would have to spend more on other players to make up for his lack of skills.

They still have $15M they can easily shave cutting Rogers and reducing Gore’s salary among a couple other little moves but it would be foolish to give Kaep a mega deal. No team wins it all once they do so.

The last time he was on the field he turned the ball over on three straight possessions to lose the NFC championship game.

He didn’t show up in the Super Bowl until after the blackout. Is he getting high on his own supply (of BS)?

With the running game and defense a lot of QBs could win in SF. He hasn’t done more than Alex Smith did with that team.

SF and Seattle were the two best teams in the league last year because having a cheap QB allows them to load up on talent at other positions. Both teams would be smart to keep doing that and switch to new cheap QBs if the current guys want more than $6-8mm per year.

So the Boston Globe reporter has 49ers sources? WTF! And Maiocco has not heard anything or at least has not shared anything. I am guessing, if the source said this, that this is the high point of the negotiations, I am sure his agent said 18M and the niners said we’ll get back with you…that is if it is even a source.

Remember when Miami flew to CA just to talk with Harbaugh and every major pundit, probably Mike too – not like he is major but properly here too, that Harbaugh has told the 49ers to up the ante or he is heading to Miami, oh yeah and Harbaugh would not sign with Baalke because he wanted Lombardi who he worked with in Oakland…all rumors and this hack reports them as fact, just like the rest of the media. Worthless!

Pay him that kind of money and you have the West Coast Ravens. One player with the whole teams contract money, causing the team to cut or release the big stars around him.
The Patriots have been successful for so long, because the goal is to win, and big stars take pay cutsnso they can afford other stars around them. Last year the pay bug finally bit the Patriots and Brady had one Receiver, no running backs etc…it cost them dearly. The Ravens wings were clipped and crashed and burned. Kat is not Brady yet, he needs a lot more seasons and wins to command that type of money. Heck the Raiders had Carson Palmer, who played at league minimum to help the team, then when it came time to pay him his 13 million, McKenzie cut him and paid Matt Flynn 6.5 million guarteed money. They ended up paying the Cardinals 10 million of his contract. Cut Flynn after playing one game. Had No QB for the year.
Carson had another great year, and it would have only cost the Raiders 3 million. Bottom line, like Brady he has proven himself, Map has not. Choked two years in a row.

Colin is worth whatever Stafford and Cutler is worth. He has a higher QB rating than both although less yards, which could be explained by not having Calvin or the combination of Marshall and Jefferies.

He also has 4x the playoff victories and a much better regular season winning percentage.

This guy is a Packer’s defense killer.
He haunts Dom Capers, he is the boogeyman under his bed and then pistol formation read run options into his closet, there to terrify him more…
Capers sees all this while shivering and peeking from under his covers, whimpering, clutching his Clay Matthews stuffed doll which offers no comfort.

You don’t pay QB’s 18 mil a year that really can’t pass. If the third option in your passing tree doesn’t catch at least 30 passes, and you rank 30th in the league in passing yards, how in the hell are you going to say your worth 18 mil?

And..it’s just matter of time before he gets ran down by someone he doesn’t see and gets injured like all running QB’s do. Ask RG3, Michael Vick and all the other running QB’s.

LETS be perfectly honest kap is abslotuely better then alex smith now and in the future !! that said id take smith at 9-10 mill a year over kap at 18 mill !!! bottom line doesn’t matter kap or smith isn’t winning a superbowl ever

They should have kept Alex…He’s been all about the money since he torched Green Bay with those rushing yards. He’s overrated and if he didn’t have the surrounding cast that he has, we would not even be having this discussion!

So I guess the question now is, who’s ego is bigger, Kaepernick’s or Harbaugh’s?

You know, everyone has been talking about how great the NFC West is, with the Seahawks and 49ers, and then the Cardinals winning 10 games even though they didn’t make the playoffs.

Now, since the Super Bowl, we’re seeing several Seahawk free agents rejecting the concept of a hometown discount, meaning the ‘hawks are very likely to lose several key players headed into next year. Now, the 49ers seem to have drifted into self-destruction mode, with their HC butting heads with the front office, and now their QB making a very unreasonable demand for a salary increase.

A little more of this from these two teams, I wouldn’t be surprised to see St. Louis win this division next year.

the only qb’s of the new crop worth that much is luck and maybe newton, wilson, tannehill and rg3 i believe is in that 10 to 14 mil range right now based off of production and potential.

there is no way kap should make over 10 mil a year. when you have to tailor your offense off of your qb’s skill set and not the other way around, it’s not worth it. sure he can run, but as shown over the past 2 years, you have to be accurate and smart with passing the ball to win, which he is not.

He should send Jay Cutler and Matt Stafford Thank You cards because the only reason he can ask for that much with a straight face is because those guys asked for it with a straight face and actually got it.

The “Flacco situation” and how that played out after he got his big deal would have me plenty concerned if I’m S.F. Give Kaep what he wants and have him eat up 15-18% of your overall cap space. Then what? You’ll likely end up plenty thin at key positions and hope (pray) you don’t have a lot of injuries. Or you can just let him walk.
Which means, for all intents, you’re starting over again.

The guy has been quite lucky, and you do not pay a man for luck, you pay him for tapped talent. This man has lots of untapped talent, and has been getting by with athleticism and luck. As a Packers fan, I have seen… and learned this kid does the tools, and talent… But can only put the pieces together while playing the Packers D…

Not worth 18 mil a year until he starts reading the D more, can’t just run it every time you get into a bind. That’s why Rodgers can make that TD toss to Cobb in the season finale against the Bears, he is patient and reads the D, rather than just run out of the collapsing pocket for a quick 10 yards

im not a kap fan at all but I cant see any argument he sucks ! not in the least he’s a good but flawed qb !!! as a hawks fan he is more scary as a passer and runner then alex smith who I didn’t fear one bit!

Not sure if 49er haters or Kap haters but a lot of your responses are ridiculous!

Kap isnt perfect, has a lot to learn, but that’s scary considering how well he’s done. Put your garbage QB’s against the Seahawks, Cards, and Rams defenses 6 games a year and see how well they do. You saw what happened to Peyton Manning

$18 mil for him now would be a BARGAIN – especially with the cap being projected around $150 million in 2016.

Kaepernick wants some good money for having a stud OL, a stout Defense, and a good runnng game. Put that boy in Jacksonville and they are talking about who the Jags are going to draft to play QB this May.

While he is a GOOD QB, he is not a GREAT QB. His scrambling certainly is hard to defend but his passing skills are average certainly, interm of consistency. The 49ers are awesome defensively so THAT is where the money should be spent. Kap should be getting about a 4 yr, 55 million dollar deal, tops.

Kaepernick wants some good money for having a stud OL, a stout Defense, and a good runnng game. Put that boy in Jacksonville and they are talking about who the Jags are going to draft to play QB this May.

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bc hes the only qb who benefits from that including from his own team ! that d sucked and the online sucked all this years alex smith was leading to the niners to playoff win and playoff wins before harbaugh and kap took over

Kap isn’t an elite QB right now–and indeed I don’t think he’s been an upgrade over Alex Smith, who’s due to make $7.5 million this year. That’s about what Kap deserves. Everybody raved about Kap and Wilson and RGIII after their first years–and they were exciting and good, but not as good as fans were led to believe. It always helps to play, like Kap and Wilson, on the two best defenses in football–makes it a lot easier for a QB!

You pay a QB more than $15 million, you will have to settle for mediocre talent at other positions. Flacco IS an elite QB, but Cutler is WAY overpaid–not worth it.

I don’t think Kaep is worth $18M personally, but neither is Tony Romo or Matthew Stafford. What exactly have those guys done again aside from miss the post season and choke in games that matter? In Kaepernick’s two seasons he was basically one or two plays away from winning a Super Bowl each time. Let’s be real, Denver wasn’t beating Seattle OR San Francisco. I think the 49ers holding out another year to pay him, isn’t the worst decision. Heck, maybe it gives him that extra nudge to bring home a Lombardi. They’ll be neck and neck with Seattle again this year.

I think he should hold out for 30 million, and the Niners should give it to him. They’ll have to let go a lot of talent to keep Kaepernick. Lets see how good Kaepernicks win/loss record is if the Niners have the 20th ranked D.

Eventually SF will have to over pay some guys on the roster to keep the jersey sales up. Problem is, the more they pay a select few, the less talent that will be on that team. Seattle is in the same boat. Lots of low pay contracts that will turn into big money deals and half the talent ends up on another team while the team sinks into mediocrity.

Let him walk, the west coast Flacco. He’s a special talent, well his legs are, the rest of him is definitely easily replaceable.
But what do you expect, the coach set the standard in the locker room and the coach doesn’t want to take a penny less than he thinks he’s worth.

Kaepernick is now 26 and based on QB longevity, has at most 11 years left in the league(7 if you take a weighted average approach for NFL QB’s).

Wjile he has been a great change of scenery for us, he is not worth $18 million/year at the moment, maybe in a few years when he matures, but now now. $10 million/year at best.

Besides, Harbaugh should be getting most of the credit here as Alex Smith looked like crap until he showed up….and if Kaepernick didn’t have Harbaugh coaching him, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion of $18M, it would be: who can we trade him to for a first round pick?

Pay Kaepernick so you can’t pay the rest of the stars on the team and then we will see if he really has it. Other Intetesting note was that they should mention Tom Brady has a deal in place for licensing and marketing appearances after he retires so that 13 mil should be a lot higher if they were not scamming the cap.

sorry, not paying a guy to play the qb position and throw 20 times a game and 200 yards a game. if i’m going to pay a qb that much he better be the guy i can count on to lead my team to a victory when needed, not rely on the defense and running game to win. that’s why qb’s like kap and wilson should not get paid that much. there is no way a guy making more than $15 mil a year should ever throw %50 completion and 100 yards in any game i don’t care how good the defense they are playing is.

Payton manning gets 20 mil and constantly comes up short. Kaep, not near Manning’s skill, has played in 2 NFC title games and a SB. Let him play this year and then pay him accordingly. 10-15 mil a year sounds about right tho.

LOL Wilson’s agent wanted a new contract right after his rookie season despite the CBA preventing it so good luck with that fantasy that he won’t go for market value.. Add it in with your 3-4 superbowls straight you already penciled in.

Guess what? The niners pay kaepernick 18 million and that sets the table for russell wilsons contract negotiations. Good Luck!!!! You guys are right…. Wilson is sooooooo much better. He is worth 25 mil a year eaaaaaaaaaaaaaasy. lolz

Plus, we are all getting the popcorn ready and a comfy seat to view the Richard Sherman contract negotiations. Its going to be a hoot…. watching the million dollar secondary turn into the 100 million dollar secondary.

I can see Wilson getting paid that as he helped them get to the playoffs last year and win the SB this year but Kap only won I’d say a little under half the games they won when they went to the SB thanks to Alex Smith getting a concussion.

wow… jay cutler, matthew stafford, matt ryan, and better yet antonio romo…
they haven’t won jack for their respective team… at $17+ mil/year…..
Winning or not, as long as they keep the money flow from the fans to the owners, that’s all that matters…

Why not instead send them Kaepernick for their 1st round pick (#4) this year, and a conditional draft choice next year.

The Browns get a young so called “franchise” QB, and still retain their other 1st round pick this year.

The 49ers save a lot of money, and with the #4 this year can draft one of the top QBs, or look elsewhere at one of the other top players at a different position. They then get at least the Browns’ 2nd round pick next year – or their 1st round pick should the Browns reach the playoffs.

What people don’t seem to understand is how hard it is to find franchise QBs. it’s an incredible amount, but that’s the market rate.
49ers don’t have another alternative. Colt McCoy? Jimmy Clausen? Matt Moore? Mark Sanchez? Please.. Just watch, the cuts will have to be made elsewhere. Kaepernick will get paid $16M+ per season.

I like Kap’s skill set, which is not fully developed yet but where I think he’s lacking (greatly I might add) is in maturity and mental toughness, he is light years behind Luck and Wilson in those important qualities.

If I were SF I’d offer him 4 years/$50 Million with $30Million guaranteed. You’d know after three years exactly what you have, he’d be 29-30, in his prime, that’s when you give him a mega-deal provided he’s done enough to deserve it. If he rejects 4/$50M I’d trade him ASAP.

Raider apologist. A typical moron! You wish you could have Kap as leader and QB You would have the take your tarps off stadium because you would actually sell some tickets instead of giving them away. Facial!

Being a Kap fan, I have to admit he scares me a little.
18 million is a little unreasonable when comparing to other QBs. However, I wouldn’t want to make the mistake of over paying a player based on the mistakes that other teams have made. While I believe Kap is better than the other players in the “18 million a year club”, Statistically, his completions pct and TDs are beneath his peers. Kap was also sacked the most and has the lowest comp. pct. in the league. This is typical for such a young player. What isn’t typical is his play in the playoffs, he is the niners most dangerous weapon.
Never have we seen the raw potential of this fearless competitor.

But Kap scares me with his “youthful” decision making (this includes his fashion choices for the press).

I would add a some incentives to this years contract and see how he performs. So your worth 18 million? Then your your completion percentage should reflect it, etc. Based on the that performance and I we agree that we wouldn’t franchise him next year. That way there is pressure on both sides to reach a deal or move on.

Kaepernick is a top 6 QB. Without him 49ers are in trouble. I’m surprised that he would settle for less than $20M. He’s better than Flacco, Stafford and Eli. Pay the man.

Ugly,

Top 6??? No. Right now I prefer him over tFlacco, Cutler, Stafford, & Eli however he’s not better than Big Ben & he’s not better than Luck. I’m not so sure if he’s better than Wilson either. Brady, Rodgers, Manning, & Brees are the top 4.

If Harbaugh stays then I really don’t think $15-$18 Million is out of the question considering that Romo makes that & the Cowboys keep missing the playoffs.

If Harbaugh leaves & the Niners go away from being a run-first offense then they may be in trouble @ QB. Kaepernick is the right fit @ QB when Gore is carrying the load BUT Gore is starting to slow down a little. Eventually Kaepernick is going to have to start making more plays from the pocket & less with his legs or he’s going to be on IR.

How come no one ever talks about how Kaepernick & Wilson were lucky to get drafted by teams that have great defenses & great running games? To say either player is better than Andrew Luck (I’m not a Colts fan) who has carried his team on his back is insane.

Look–I give these kids credit for making the most out of their situations but how good Wilson or Kaepernick would be if they were drafted by Jacksonville or TB or Cleveland. Highly doubtful people would be calling either of these QB’s ‘clutch players’ or winners.

There are SO MANY haters out there. Just b/c you’re not a fan of the team or the player doesn’t mean that you should lose all rational thought.

Brian Orakpo–yes Brian Orakpo–just got franchised by the Redskins for almost $12 Million & people are criticizing the Niners who have played in the NFC Championship in the past three years & their QB who wants to get paid $18 Million??? So what has Brian Orakpo done for the Redskins. Nothing. The Redskins made the playoffs in 2012 & Orakpo was out for the season.

How much do you think Cam Newton is going to make??? Wake up b/c this is how much upper echelon QB’s–whether you agree or disagree– make now.

There is simply no way that you can justify paying Kaepernick $18,000,000 per year. If you look at his numbers they are spotty. He is relatively inaccurate. The 49ers have won many games in spite of as opposed to because of him.

If he is looking for a contract in this range then the easy call for the 49ers is to let him play out his contract and justify the demands. To this point, these demands are unjustifiable IMHO.

i feel bad for 49ers fans – this guy is almost certainly going to be locked up long term, and will get a ridiculous contract even if it isn’t 18 million per year. the talent that makes the current roster so strong – stockpiled from years of being terrible and picking high in the draft – will be long gone.

I’d take Alex Smith, who had he played that final game, would have shredded Kaepernick in just about every meaningful statistic outside of YPA, which Smith got to Colin’s level in his final 8 games

so much talk about colin’s running, when alex had arguably just as good of a year on the ground. more TD’s passing, more yards, less interceptions.

I’d take Smith at 14-15, and have 3 to play with, instead of paying kaepernick 18

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well regardless of what you think on sf you can enjoy alex smith qb of the chiefs who beat one winning team all year never ever come close to taking kc to the superbowl !!! don’t care about the indy game its not the norm for him the norm for him Is 1-13on third downs in a home playoff game against the giants ~you know the nfc championship that his lovers say he would never lose

How come no one ever talks about how Kaepernick & Wilson were lucky to get drafted by teams that have great defenses & great running games? To say either player is better than Andrew Luck (I’m not a Colts fan) who has carried his team on his back is insane.

Look–I give these kids credit for making the most out of their situations but how good Wilson or Kaepernick would be if they were drafted by Jacksonville or TB or Cleveland. Highly doubtful people would be calling either of these QB’s ‘clutch players’ or winners.

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I am not saying Wilson or KaeperPick are better than Luck but the Colts aren’t Jacksonville, TB or Cleveland either. How would Wilson and KaeperPick do on the Colts is more accurate comparison. They gave the 2012 Executive of the Year to the Colt’s GM, surely not just for taking Luck #1 in a no-brainer pick.

For you to imply Colin Kaepernick even signing with the Raiders, is an insult.

1. Colin Kaepernick has more class than you EBT Card carrying Raider fans.

2. The Raiders have no defense, Colin need to play on a Defense that ranks in the top 5, that is what is keeping him successful.

3. Your Outhouse Stadium the “O” is a Giant Porta Potty that is sinking and bleeds raw sewage.

4.Colin will be playing in a Luxury Stadium in Santa Clara, with Luxury Malls and fans that make 6-7 figures in income.

5.The majority of Raider fans are on some type of Government program, and the Outhouse Stadium, is the only one that accepts EBT Cards.

6. You can’t afford or anybody with a brand name, the only reason you won’t take Johnny Manziel is your franchise can’t afford him. Manziel would pull an Eli Manning or John Elway if drafted by the Raiders.

7. You play in the 5th largest market and can’t sell out a 54,000 seat stadium, you had to put tarps on your upper level.

8. The small market Jacksonville Jaguars, even with tarps and even in non- sell outs -still had more fans in the stands than the Raiders.

9. The Raiders only sell out when the Cowboys Steelers, Broncos or the Packers come to town, again, that is because the fans of those teams buy up the seats. Last Year’s Bronco Game had a giant Sea of Orange, and the Raiders vs Jaguars game at the Outhouse, wasn’t even close to a sell out. You have tickets as low as a dollar. That’s pathetic.

10. The Raider Myth is that they sell out win or lose has been exposed for years, your nothing more than a glorified Tampa Bay Rays.

11. The San Francisco 49ers are supreme in the region, and will sign Colin Kaepernick to his 18 Million Dollar contract along with Jim Harbaugh and will go to the Super Bowl.

12. The Raiders will find a retread off the street and go 3-13, and when the 49ers come to the Outhouse, they will sell the place out with more 49er fans than EBT Raider fans.

13. Mark Davis should move to the number 2 market in L.A. where players want to play, and a new venue will be sold out for years. Davis can sign the big names and the Big Coaches.

Until then, they will always fall below 500 in that sewage of a stadium.

San Francisco 49er supremacy will continue in that region for years to come.

Note to niners and Seahawks fans, enjoy your team now while they’re still together. Once these rookie contracts are up from both teams, it will eat all of their cap up just to keep 5 of their star players. Best to believe that next year or two will be the biggest FA frenzy with most of the guys coming from these 2 teams

Then again, he was held to 20 points against a Packer’s team w/o any healthy outside linebackers, garbage safeties and their two best Corners out…. so it’s not even a guarantee that he’ll manage to pad his stats against trash defenses anymore.

He can make ridiculously strong throws on the run, and doesn’t seem to be impacted by rolling either right or left.

However, he does seem to have some issues making decisions. Even in the GB game where he was hailed as the hero, he had 1 pick and could have had up to 3 more. That and all the timeouts and time wasted not being able to get plays off.

The Niners do have some leverage in that Kap has to play one more year at 1M. If he doesn’t want to risk getting hurt, he needs to take a bit less.

Of course he WILL NOT get 18mil… This is part of the NEGOTIATION. You don’t ask for the money you expect to get, you ask for the amount of money that will RAISE the monetary expectations of what the buyer wants to pay. Kap’s agents know he’s only worth 4-5 mil per year. If they can raise the buyer’s expectation of what a buyer will pay, even by 1 or 2 million, they are doing they’re job as an agent. Kap’s people use the media to blurb (ask) for 18 mil, San Fran says 2.5 mil they settle in the middle somewhere. Probably 5 mil plus bonuses.
Just like going to the used car dealer.. the sticker price is inflated in order to make negotiating room for the buyer who kicks them in the groin with a low offer.. therefore giving he buyer room to negotiate as well… Negotiation 101.

If the 49ers had Stafford or Cutler, they might have actually won a couple of Super Bowl. That isn’t being said out of admiration of either of those guys, but as far as skill level and ability to raise the play of the team, Kap isn’t even close. Kap doesn’t have the ability to be irreplaceable to a team. A healthy Vick is a step up.

I WOULD LIKE THE NINERS TO WAIT AND SEE HOW HE DOES THIS YEAR WITH A PROMISE CONTRACT THIS YEAR IF HE CAN IMPROVE HIS STATS TO AN AGREEMEET BETWEEN THE 2 SIDES PAY HIM HIS MONEY NEXT YEAR BUT YOU GOT TO LET HIM GO AND PLAY THE GAME HIS WAY AND QUIT SAYING TO STAY IN THE POCKET AS THIS IS LIMITING HIS GAME, LET HIM RUN AND DRAFT A BACK-UP QB THAT WE KNOW IS STARTING NFL MATERIAL. BUT OUR MAIN PRIORITY IS TO LOCK DOWN HARBY AS WE HAVEN’T HAD A HEAD COACH OF HIS CALIBER IN A VERY, VERY LONG TIME AND WE CAN’T LET HIM GET AWAY. IN THE DRAFT WE MUST AND I MEAN MUST!!!!!!!!!!DO WHAT EVER IT TAKES TO DRAFT KELVIN (BENGI) WR OUT OF FLA STATE AND GO BACK TO THE OLE (ALLEY-OOP) AROUND THE 5 YARD LINE AND CLOSER. IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATS I BET WE ARE THE WORST, I KNOW WE ARE THE WORST PLAY-OFF TEAM OF THIS STAT AND THAT IS TO SCORE A TD IN THE RED ZONE. HE WOULD BE A PERFECT FIT FOR THIS PLAY. WE WOULD WHEN THE SUPERBOWL AND GET BACK TO OUR GLORY DAYS….SORRY TO STRAY AWAY FROM THE KAPPY QUESTION SO IF WE WANT TO SEE THE TRUE KAPPY WE MUST TAKE OFF THE NOOSE AROUND KAPPY’S(NICK), NO PUN INTENDED. WE WILL WIN THE BIG GAME NEXT YEAR AND YEARS TO COME IF WE FOLLOW THIS PLAN. I BEEN A 49ER FAN THAT BLEEDS THE MOST SINCE I WAS 8 YRS OLD AND NOW I TURN 56 THIS YEAR. BACK IN THE DAY WHEN THE NINER’S WERE GETTING BEAT EVERY YEAR BY BIG SCORE MARGINS, I WOULD WATCH EVERY PLAY NO MATTER WHAT THE SCORE WAS AND CAUSE I LIVED IN SOUTH CALI-FORNIA I GOT THE NINER’S ON TV ALL THE TIME. I WOULD CHEER WHEN WE SCORED IN THE 4TH QUARTER DOWN BY 35. BOOK-IT-DANNO, CUT-IN-DRY

My take is that none of the players in the NFL actually earn the huge salaries they receive. However, it’s not going to change and they will continue to receive higher and higher salaries. Kaepernick has been the 49ers QB for less than two full seasons and has led them to a SB and the NFC Championship game. In the Championship game he was SFs only offensive weapon. Without his play the 49ers wouldn’t have been in a position at the end of the game to possibly win. He was the leading rusher because the 49er line was dominated by the Seahawks defensive line, he passed well against the best pass defense in the NFL even though his receivers had great difficulty getting open. The interception closed the door, but he led them down the field to make it a nail biting finish. As a Cowboys fan I’d love to have him behind center for my favorite team. Wilson and Newton aren’t better QBs than this guy. They simply play on different teams under different systems. I’d take any of the three.

I’m a Russell Wilson fan, but I also like Kaepernick as long as Wilson wins more than he does. That said, I think he deserves 18M because he’s a much better QB than Romo, Stafford, Bradford, Ryan because he’s beat them all. He’s also has beat the so called elite QBs like Brady, Cam and Rogers (twice). I’m sure he’ll beat Peyton Manning if given a chance. YES HE DESERVES AT LEAST 18M because all the above QBs who got beat by Kap makes that kind of money.

Symptomatic of the biggest problem/mistake in the NFL ever since Plan B was overruled by the courts and outright free agency became reality. Makes no difference how much a player is actually worth, because there will always be a foolish team who will give them a lot more than they are worth, because a team wants or thinks it needs that player, regardless of the cost. Rest assured that if the 49ers won’t cave in to Kaepernick’s outrageous demand, some team and their idiot GM will.

It’s the short-term gain, long term blindness that is rampant in the NFL and business today. Usually, that team ends up getting shafted by the deal, but they never learn.

The market says he is worth $18 mil. Romo is getting $17 mil. How many Super Bowls has he played in? Cutler is getting $18 mill. How many Championship games has he played in?
Let’s review the “great” QBs he’s played:

He is 1-0 against Brady
He is 1-1 against Brees
He is 3-0 against Rodgers
He is 2-0 against Ryan
He is 1-1 against Romo
He is 0-2 against Flacco
He is 1-1 against Bradford.
He is 1-3 against Wilson.

The 49ers won’t pay that amount, I am a 49ers fan and I know with the York’s as owners won’t dish out $18 per year. If he wins it for us in 2014 in our new stadium, I’d happily give him $19-$20 a year but for two straight years, he cost us a superbowl and a NFC title and possibly a SB appearance or title. Don’t you think he can easily grab us 2 first rd picks, I’d get Zattenberg with our second rd pick and groom him if Kap jumps boat, but we’ll still get 2 extra first picks with 2 new young stud CB’s.

I think it’s a inflated number but if that is what he thinks he’s worth, might want to tread lightly. 9ers have plenty of picks in draft, I’m sure Har-balke will not think twice about drafting an early round QB as leverage and future proofing. When your D gives up less than 20 a game, it’s not as hard to find a game manager to win 10-11 games.

I think it’s a inflated number but if that is what he thinks he’s worth, might want to tread lightly. 9ers have plenty of picks in draft, I’m sure Har-balke will not think twice about drafting an early round QB as leverage and future proofing. When your D gives up less than 20 a game, it’s not as hard to find a game manager to win 10-11 games.

He’s not worth that much yet. He’s at a point where he has the potential to become great (better after only two years than a majority of even HoF QBs were after their first two years), but he’s not there yet. There are times when he’s brilliant (he’ll go on streaks of a dozen really stunning pass completions), but there are others where he just chucks in the general direction of his first read looking like a panicked high-schooler.

If he picks up on how to complete his reads accurately, get the ball out quicker to the open receiver, he could end up being one of the greats. This season will tell a lot.

I’m not too sure Kaep is worth $18M but he is definitely very, very valuable to the 49ers. All the hate on Kaep is completely unnecessary. Without him, 49ers aren’t near as dynamic and quite frankly would be a won and done playoff team. He darn near pulled off a miraculous playoff run with beating GB in GB in sub zero degree whether, beating Carolina in Carolina with that tough Defense, and then going up to Seattle against the number defense and giving a chance at the end to go to the superbowl. Cmon people cut him some slack. He’s not perfect but man give the man some credit. I know for sure that Alex smith could not have done what Kaep did.

It sucks that QBs are grossly overpaid now that we are almost forced to have to pay Kaep what he is asking for. With Kaep at the helm though, we will be in position to compete for a championship year in and year out. He is only 26years old has tremendous upside. Seattle Seahawks star safety Earl Thomas raved about what a special player Kaep is and what he brings to the table after that epic NFC championship game. I’ll take his word over any of our opinions because he actually has to defend against Kaep. All of the hate on Kaep isn’t very necessary considering how young and raw he still is. He’s going to be a very good quarterback without Kaep in the NFC Championship game, we would have been blown out by more than two touchdowns. He was our ONLY offense. Check the stats. With all that said, I hope he gets paid $12M max a year. We can’t afford to lose key players because of a mega deal.

Don’t people smell franchise tag or trade if he’s asking for that much. A lot of his throws were almost possible INT’s or were INT’s. Win the big one, then lets talk, the 49ers are looking to pay around $14-$16, he has to remember they still have to sign Iupati to extension and Aldon, too. Hitner, maybe an extra 1 or 2 year deal. This deal obviously means no more Tarrell Brown, they will release Rogers, and even consider releasing Gore as well. They should draft Mettenberger, he has great size for a QB.

He is unlikely to get $18 mil for $2014. The Niners can save $17 mil in cap space by not extending him. They can slap the franchise tag on him and pay him around $19 mil for 2015 even if he and the Niners win the Super Bowl. If he does not, or if he has a bad season, then the Niners would not be tied down by a huge contract on a player they will be unable to trade or cut. It could be a mistake that destroys the 9ers chances of going to the playoffs year after year for the next few years. Therefore it would be wiser not to pay him what his agent is asking than to give in. As for Harbaugh, he is not going anywhere else for the next 2 years. He deserves a raise, and it may be wise to give him one to keep him happy, giving the high cost of housing in the Bay Area.

How many games would Kæp win if he played for the Jaguars, Raiders or Browns? Madness to pay him that kind of coin. 9ers should just draft Garoppolo in the bottom of the first and develop him. Any average NFL QB could win with the talent they have in San Francisco.

See what Joe Flacco started? The QB position is now $15 million a year for an avergae QB.”

Actually, Matthew Stafford got PAID first before Flacco got his big contract. At least Flacco made it to the playoffs for 5 straight seasons and won a superbowl first, meanwhile he NEVER missed a game.

The Ravens paid Flacco some unseemly sum last year and he failed to deliver. The best thing you can have is a hunger QB.”

Flacco delivered BEFORE he got paid. 5 straight playoff appearances, a superbowl win (which he was the MVP of), and never missing a game. I think that is a pretty good track record.

Last year he had no running game, no offensive line, nobody to throw the ball to other than a second year guy in Torrey Smith, and an inconsistent defense. The fact that they managed to go 8-8 with everything that happened is rather amazing.

The top QB Rogers Brees Brady Manning are worth about 15 mil the middle of the packs Romo Rivers Stafford about 10 mil but they are like the best of the best for fear a Jacksonville or Cleveland will steal them from you.